Women's basketball: Hargis makes unexpected contribution for CU Buffs

Rachel Hargis has never been a player the Colorado women's basketball team depends on for offense.

On Sunday, however, the junior center proved she can provide a lift on that end of the floor. She had 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting during the Buffs' 84-59 win against Oregon. It was just the third time in Hargis' career that she scored in double figures, the first time since Jan. 12, 2012.

"Playing a zone, you don't expect to score that much inside, but coach talked to us about keep attacking and cutting to open areas," said Hargis, who averages 4.9 points per game. "That's what I focused on today. I didn't have a very good offensive game against Oregon State (on Friday), so I was like 'I need to get back into my groove tonight.'"

Although she doesn't score a lot, Hargis is one of the team leaders in field-goal percentage (46.5) and has been great on defense. The only player to start every game for CU this season, Hargis also had four rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks on Sunday.

"You look at her defense and she doesn't make very many mistakes, she is helping everybody else out, she's guarding her own, she's getting some rebounds," head coach Linda Lappe said. "So it was nice to see her get some good shots on offense and understand where those shots were going to come from. She was aggressive in there, but she wasn't forcing it."

Racking up the steals

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Colorado's defense has been great all year, but the Buffs have been particularly good of late at taking away opportunities from their opponents.

On Sunday, the Buffs had 16 steals, bringing their total to 54 over the last four games. During that stretch, the Buffs have averaged 13.5 steals per game, getting at least 10 in each game.

During the first eight games of Pac-12 play, the Buffs averaged 7.3 steals per game, and had more than eight just once -- in the Pac-12 opener against Stanford.

Atchley in the act

A simple layup in the closing seconds of a blowout usually doesn't get much attention. It did on Sunday. Freshman walk-on Alexus Atchley scored her first college points on a driving layup with 21.5 seconds left.

"She does that on us every single day in practice," said sophomore Lexy Kresl, one of several Buffs to celebrate the shot.

"She's a good player, so for her to get in the game and split the defense like that and get a layup in the paint, it was huge," senior Chucky Jeffery said. "It was great to see."

Atchley has played just 16 minutes this year and attempted her first two shots on Sunday.

Notable

CU's 84 points was its most in a conference game since an 84-60 win against Nebraska on Feb. 26, 2002. ... The 84 points also tied a season high for CU. ... Jasmine Sborov had a career-high four assists and a season-high two steals to go with her eight points for the Buffs. ... Both Malcolm-Peck twins, Brenna (knee) and Meagan (shoulder) sat out of Sunday's game with injuries. ... The Buffs improved to 17-0 against unranked opponents this season. ... Longmont High School graduate Megan Carpenter had two rebounds, one assist and one steal in 18 minutes off the bench for the Ducks. ... The Buffs had lost six in a row to Oregon before Sunday. ... CU has held 18 of 23 opponents under 60 points. The Buffs have yet to allow 70.

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